Listing with a Portland Realtor vs For Sale By Owner (FSBO)

Lets take a look at trying sell your home as a For Sale By Owner (aka FSBO) vs. hiring a professional Portland Real Estate broker to get your home sold. While there are some deals that have gone smoothly without the services of a professional Realtor, your chances of selling faster and for market value are greatly increased by going with someone who does this everyday.

The most important step is pricing your house properly. If your price is too high you won't get buyers or other Realtors to see it. The longer it stays on the market, the more potential buyers might wonder what's wrong with it? This is where I should say, "If you list low, then you'll always wonder if you lost money on the deal.". The problem with that statement is that I have yet to see a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) that is under priced. They seem to all be chasing the market.

You need to understand the Portland Metro Real Estate market. Even more you suburb or neighborhood. Your Portland Realtor can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace, and the price, financing, terms and condition of the competing properties. Most sellers believe their home is worth more than it actually is and will remove many potential buyers because it's not priced competitively.

An experienced Realtor will not only list your home on MLS, but will have other resources and marketing strategies for increased exposure for your house. How much traffic can having a sign on the property and a craigslist ad generate? By not getting your home on MLS, you are already eliminating the vast majority of at least pre-qualified buyers who are working with a real estate broker to find their next home.

Even if you do generate enough interest, buyers are not going to write up an offer if they cannot get in it to look around. You have to be willing to be available to show the house at different hours of the day to make sure everyone that may be interested in it will get to see it. If you hire a Realtor who will give explicit instructions(per you) to other Realtors on when and how to show your home, and place an accessible lock box at your property so other Realtors can get their potential buyers in to see the house. By maximizing your showings you have a greater chance of having a successful closed transaction. A Portland Real Estate broker can even take care of scheduling the appointments for you.

If you don't use a Realtor, how are you going to attract out of state buyers? Very few relocating buyers will try to go the FSBO route. A large percent find homes for sale in their new destination by using a Realtor and the local MLS database of listings. You might be eliminating a whole group of buyers that will never see your house because relocation buyers won't know about it.

Now that you have gotten a buyer in your home, can you be patient and understanding with criticism that you will receive? You will need to be able to handle all different types of personalities and be able to keep your "cool" under pressure. You need to have patience and the right temperament for criticism, questions, repeat showings and especially negotiations. Buyers do not care how many wonderful memories your home has created for you, nor what you think of it, they just want to pay rock bottom price. By trying to sell your house on your own, buyers will be looking for a deal from you.

Let say for the sake of argument that you have gotten past all of the above pitfalls that I have noted above. You have a "buyer" in your home who wants to make you an offer. How do you know they are pre-approve a buyer? What if they want a home inspection? What if there are repairs or updates that the buyers wants to have done before they purchase? What of they need to sell there house first? What if they are waiting for their "upcoming" job offer to come through? Do you want to get through all the stress of listing your Portland home and then find out something that could have been avoided when writing up the offer is now a deal-breaker? A Portland Real Estate broker will have experience with contracts, forms and negotiations. An important function of a Realtor is to make sure that all the paperwork is handled correctly.

Realtors network with other professionals in the industry, many who can provide services that you will probably need. Realtors can give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.Can you close the sale of your home without be overwhelmed?

Your Realtor should be with you throughout the entire process and is the best person to objectively help you resolve any unforeseen issues and move the transaction to closing.A good Realtor will work with you through every step of the home selling process to save both your time and your money.

Real Estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments most people experience in their lifetime so shouldn't you have the best possible advantage in selling your house?